Pride And Prejudice Class Consciousness Analysis

When Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is mentioned, immediately the iconic heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, comes to mind. Throughout the novel, Miss Bennet is forced to endure the behavior of many class-conscious people. These people had a great impact on some of the relationships within Pride and Prejudice. Within every character’s romantic life, class-consciousness is proven to have the most prominent role. Some characters that embody the trait of class-consciousness include George Wickham and Fitzwilliam Darcy.

First, George Wickham strongly portrays class-consciousness throughout Pride and Prejudice. Upon his first appearance in the novel, he seems to be the perfect gentleman. Later, though, it is revealed that he is a money hungry man with a number of debts to pay off. When Mr. Darcy writes a letter to Elizabeth, he mentions that Wickham was planning on eloping with his fifteen-year-old sister,

Georgiana Darcy, in an attempt to gain some of the Darcy family fortune. Mr. Darcy prevented this from happening, however, and ensured that Wickham would not be involved with Georgiana again. For a time, Wickham directed his attentions towards Elizabeth, but, learning that the Bennets were not very rich, shifted his attentions towards Miss Mary King. When Mrs. Gardiner, Elizabeth’s aunt, tries to console Elizabeth when Wickham lost interest, she says, “‘he paid [Miss King] not the smallest attention, till her grandfather’s death made her mistress of this fortune’” (Austen 105). Later, Lydia travels as Mrs. Forster’s companion to Brighton with the regiment. Wickham and Lydia run away together to elope, creating a scandal and tarnishing the Bennet family name. Wickham, though attracted to Lydia, does not want to marry her, as he intends to marry someone more wealthy in order to pay off his debts. The only way to diminish the scandal, however, is for the two to get married. Darcy secretly pays off Wickham’s debts so he will marry Lydia. Though Darcy enables this relationship, his own class-consciousness negatively affects other relationships.
Next, Fitzwilliam Darcy exemplifies class-consciousness throughout the novel.

At the Netherfield ball, Darcy grasps the attention of many young ladies for his handsome features and wealth; however, is later revealed to be “a most disagreeable, horrid man” (Austen 8). Mr. Darcy was not impressed by the girls at the ball, as he thought none were rich enough nor “handsome enough to tempt [him]” (Austen 7). This initial impression of Mr. Darcy causes Elizabeth to determine him the last man she could envision herself with. When Mr. Darcy later confesses his love to Elizabeth he says that he had fought this attraction against the class-conscious beliefs of his friends, family, and even himself, resulting in Elizabeth’s increasing repulsion towards him. In this discussion, it is also revealed that Mr. Darcy, as well as Caroline Bingley, prevented Mr. Bingley from being with Jane by telling him she did not love him and concealing her being in London. Eventually, Elizabeth forgets this misconduct and falls in love with Mr. Darcy, as well as the beautiful Pemberley

estate.
In Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, George Wickham and Fitzwilliam Darcy are the perfect representations of class-consciousness. During the novel, both men are blinded by this trait and many people, such as Elizabeth Bennett, have to endure its effects. Class-consciousness resounds throughout the novel as well as in today’s society. After all, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man with good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Austen 1).